When the rain finally ceased, loss assessment and preventative measures for the future could begin. Despite damage control, there were hundreds of drones that drowned or died in collapses while parts of the food stores and other supplies were waterlogged, but the queens and the vast majority of the eggs and larvae were relocated and kept safe.

Good ideas had at least been generated for how the Hivemind should move forward. A great deal more berry bushes were planted in such a way as to form a ring around the central hive; the satellite one already had a good deal of foliage cover, and planting more berry bushes would have been difficult in such a densely forested patch of land. Following the earlier talks, the bees had greatly increased their presence around the berry bushes; they now seemed to feel more comfortable doing so. And they took notice of the new berry bushes sprouting, and to that they buzzed in delight; it seemed that we had inadvertently done what their queen had been trying to ask of us. In hindsight, it seemed rather obvious that she was trying to tell our prince that they wished for us to plant more bushes.

The new worker drones used sand and wood pulp to make their papery mortar, with the occasional pebbles stuck into the goop. This new biological concrete was being used to coat the walls of the underground tunnels and build up the above-ground mounds. It would take quite some time to finish, but the end product would one day be hives that were much larger and sturdier. They'd not just be less prone to weakening and collapse when wet, but also almost entirely resistant to wind erosion.

As our species recovered from the disaster, warriors and workers once again began leaving the hives in droves; however, the warriors found a nasty surprise when they tried to take up their old posts and patrols. While they had expected the various bunkers and ambush points along the border with the beetles to have been washed away and ruined, the posts had seemingly been repaired and occupied by the enemy! Beetle warriors had taken advantage of our vulnerable state to press their borders a good ways farther, forming a tight circle around the original patch of berry bushes and the satellite hive that protected them. Our own efforts to entrench that border had also been turned against us, for even though we obviously knew where we'd built all of those ambush points and redoubts, they were naturally in defensible spots that were now being manned by a vigilant and formidable foe.

There was at least some good news, though. Some messengers from the scouting expedition had finally made it back to report that our prince had ventured a long ways east and encountered no other creatures of note. There's just wide tracts of open grassland ripe for the taking, and while it seemingly lacks any new resources of note, it would make a fine place to direct future expansion. He is intent upon pressing farther east for a while longer before turning back.

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